ABSTRACT
The concentrations of six heavy metals were determined in the fine fraction ( < 63 microm) of surface sediments in the Yangtze Estuary and its adjacent areas by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The average contents of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr and Zn are 10.47, 0.19, 37.68, 36.86, 97.80 and 98.65 mg x kg(-1), respectively. The contents of As, Cd and Cu appear gradually degressive from west to east, while the contents of Pb, Cr and Zn appear no apparent difference. In generally, the concentrations of heavy metals are higher in the south sea areas than those in the north sea areas. Environmental assessment with single factor method suggests that As, Cu, Pb, Cr and Zn are moderately contaminated, while Cd is not polluted. The values of As,Cu and Cr are between effect range-low (ERL) and effect range-median (ERM), which indicate they occasionally bring adverse biological effect at most stations, and the values of Cd,Pb and Zn are below ERL mean they rarely bring adverse biological effect by sediment quality guidelines assessment. From the results of factor analysis and cluster analysis, we conclude that the outer sea areas of the Yangtze Estuary and the Hangzhou Bay have lower sediment environmental quality, therefore much attention should be paid to these areas.
